The present invention provides a process for the removal of metal contaminants that can be generated on a metal substrate, for example, on a sputtering target during the process of plasma generated thin film formation.
It is known in certain display and/or photonic technologies that metal substrates used for example for magnetic or plasma generated deposition, can be subjected to the presence of additional material that might be present in the form of additional material layers, and that during the deposition process, targets or substrates down line can end up with an undesirable contamination. An example of a patent that discusses the technology involved is U.S. Pat. No. 8,988,755 fully incorporated herein by reference, and which relates to a variable reflectance electro-optic vehicular rear-view mirror having a series of functional thin-film coatings laid down, for example by physical vapor, plasma, or magnetron deposition. In the manufacture of such articles, there exists the possibility of cross-contamination of the targets as the article of manufacture travels through production. The present invention is intended as a means of allowing such targets to be repressed or post processed for re-use.